Saturday, March 05, 2005

AutoCAD 2006 - (Yes, 2006) - A Couple of my Favorite Things

Autodesk has granted me special permission to "leak" a few tidbits of information about the features of the upcoming new release of AutoCAD 2006. There are a myriad of new features packed into this new version, to be shipping soon, but I've picked just a couple for now just to whet your appetites:

1) Head's up Drafting. With the new "Dynamic" mode of input, you can literally do away with the command line! (Which is now an option - don't worry, though. By default the command line is still there). I typically work with one line of text on the command line, but most of my input and the prompts from AutoCAD are focused where my eyes are - on the location of the crosshairs. You can also input distances and direction dynamically - at the crosshairs - no more of the cryptic coordinate input that we've had to deal with in the past (unless you WANT to do things the hard way).

Distances and direction can be input at the cursor location Command options are also available at the cursor location

2) Dynamic Blocks. With the new block editor you can take an existing block definition and supercharge it, or create new more flexible blocks. Blocks can now have multiple insertion points, can automatically align themselves to nearby objects, and can have multiple size options (not scaling, but actual size grips that can be incremented values or "free-style). One block, for example, can represent multiple size desks - just grab the grips to make it a different width or length. There's a myriad of other things you can do with these, but essentially a single block can now perform multiple functions and look different ways for different conditions. ADT users - this is NOT a multi-view block, so don't confuse the two, but it is still going to revolutionize symbol libraries and most likely make a lot of LISP routines moot!

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About Me

Having been a registered Architect from 1992 through 2008, I now specialize in consulting with architectural and engineering firms to make the most of their Revit and AutoCAD Architecture / AutoCAD MEP software. I am also a regular speaker at Autodesk University.